Patience, please!

What is that old adage about a watched pot never boiling? Well, I'm guilty. I've found myself neurotically checking my flower beds at least once, and sometimes twice a day, to see if my irises and poppies are peeking up yet..... and, no, not yet. We bought bareroots, not bulbs, through Michigan Bulb, and I guess I figured that they would just start growing within a few days of planting, since they weren't bulbs. But it has been four weeks, and still no poppies or irises. The bareroot hostas are already up and growing quickly, so I'm not sure why the others aren't.

The potted plants and flowers we planted in the back yard are looking great, and growing quite nicely, with the exception of the bamboo plants. We bought a couple of them, and the nursery owner said that this type was the hardiest and best growing of the clumping bamboo (which means that they won't spread all over, they stay in one spot) but it is still about the same size it was when we planted it a month ago. Jace is so excited about the bamboo; our neighbors have a fully grown bamboo plant in their yard, and they cut it back and put the stalks (which are those hard, wood bamboo sticks) out in the wooded area behind our homes. When Jace discovered them, he dragged them back to our garage and has made all kinds of swords and shields, etc with them. A roll of duct tape, bamboo sticks and his imagination have kept him busy for hours at a time!

It is budget time again at work, and I am so ready for the holiday weekend. Weekends will be a little closer to home this year, with our boat in dry storage. We made the hard decision to put it in storage last fall, in keeping with our Dave Ramsey plan. Selling it was out of the question; with the economy, we would have never recouped what we owe. So, keeping it in storage saves on the slip rental, and the expense of being down at the lake with food, drinks etc. every weekend. It is another lesson in patience, and forgoing the fun for awhile so that we can be in a better place financially.

It was amazing to look back at what we spent on weekends down at the lake over the past couple of years, and now all of that is going towards paying off debt. Hopefully in a couple of years we'll be at a point where we can pull it out of storage and enjoy it, but this was the best decision for now. And we do still have lots of friends with boats, so there's still some lake time for us this summer. We're actually heading there tomorrow, to enjoy the day with friends Chris and Jana. Looking forward to a beautiful day, and no rain in the forecast. Yay!

Now I've got to get back to work and finish up my budget draft, before I can start enjoying the weekend.